Looking beyond May 2016

The election campaigns in the Philippines for next year’s presidential election has already started and it is not surprising that the campaign will grow stronger for the coming last quarter this year.  This is also the same with the United States wherein the democratic system of the Philippines is primarily followed like the election system in United States. Both countries have similarities and differences in terms of election system.

One of the similarities between the two countries is that the good candidate who deserves to win in the election doesn’t win very often. The history of the Philippines consists of different personalities who should never sit in the position as a president. One typical example is the former president Ferdinand Marcos who declared martial law. During his very long term as the president of the Philippines that started in year 1965, the Philippines became the second richest country in Asia after Japan. After the domination of Marcos as a president for twenty one long years, the economics and politics in the declined and the country was labeled as an ill country of Asia.

It is not a fact that that martial law was very helpful to the Philippines but it had actually led a worst situation. There is also no truth that Filipinos is naturally having poor performance that other Asians. It is true that the Marcos domination in the country caused so much trouble in the Philippines. When the next president Corazon Aquino led the Philippines, she made major changes in the Philippines which made the country revive their democracy, took away capitalism and gave a better future for the Filipino people.

E. Cruz

Science in a suitcase: Testing for illicit drugs in Southeast Asia

The production and activity of methamphetamines and heroin, combined with the illegal dealing of antecedent chemicals needed to create illegal drugs, present a crucial danger to the countries building the Greater Mekong Sub-region. While law enforcement authorities transacting with these problems have normally lacked the right resources in order to rapidly and efficiently recognizes grasp substances, this has begun to become different by the help of UNODC’s Global SMART Programme.

The program Synthetic Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends – UNODC partners with police and customs organizations in the district to get them ready on the field drug-testing equipment so as to immediately recognize illegal drugs. The equipment permits law enforcement authorities to run particular site evaluation for illegal substances which includes narcotics like opium and heroin and psychotropic substances like amphetamines. UNODC also supplies antecedent examination equipment that helps distinguish the chemicals in the drug production.

UNODC introduced the Global SMART Program few years ago to increase the power of the members and authorities of the state in in East and Southeast Asia to produce, organize, examine and report synthetic substance and antecedent information, and to seek this evidence-based knowledge to the rules and program design and execution. Eleven countries in the region are already given assistance from UNODC through the Global SMART Programme which includes Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

B. Jeong

Import of Domestic Pets in India

Domestic pets like dog, cat, birds and many more can be carried in by travellers may it be from a foreign countries or in India but the import of domestic pets is ruled by strict health certificate laws which must be accomplished.

Permit of each domestic pet in a restricted number may be considered without Import Trade Control restrictions on covering the health certificate to the official department officers.

One of these health certificates is from an official veterinarian to issue a valid government certificate in India of export to the outcome that the pet dog imported is safe from Aujossky’s disease, Distemper, Rabies, Leishmaoiasis and Leptospirosis.

When it comes to import of dogs and cats which come from countries that have widespread rabies infection, health certificate must consist a vaccination record, vaccines used, infused vaccine and the name of the manufactured facility and to the outcome that the dog or cat was vaccinated against Rabies over a month yet within twelve months before the actual embankments with nervous tissue vaccine or within thirty six months with chicken embryo both the vaccines having undergone sufficient power tests.

In the situation of parrots, a health certificate to the outcome that the parrots were subjected to a test for infection with a microorganism that involves measuring the amount of complement available in serum to bind with an antibody of psittacosis with negative results within 30 days before an actual embarkation.

M. Rahman